Relief workers focusing on basic needs before ag assessments
During Hurricane Helene, Western North Carolina, received more than a foot of rain. The storm caused widespread flooding and mudslides, making it one of the worst flooding events in the area’s history. The French Broad River crested at record levels, surpassing previous peaks by ten feet. This led to road closures, power outages, and damage to infrastructure, with several emergency flood warnings issued across western North Carolina. The flooding also resulted in landslides, complicating rescue and recovery efforts.
A week after the storm, Seed World spoke with Meghan Baker, North Carolina Cooperative Extension educator for small farms. She spoke about the widespread devastation and potential agricultural impacts, specifically in Buncombe County, home to Ashville and surrounding towns.
“We have a full spectrum of reports from growers we’ve been able to connect with,” she says. “We’re hearing about everything from total losses of crops to produce farms that are rallying and providing food donations and organizing pop-up farmers markets. Nursery losses have occurred, and there are efforts to bring irrigation supplies to those with perennial crops, as many of our areas have had catastrophic damage to water infrastructure that will not be online for weeks.”
Baker says many areas, urban and remote, are still largely inaccessible and internet connections are few and far between. The damage stretches far beyond North Carolina and into Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
“Two of our staff members have better connectivity and are doing what we can to return messages and spread reliable information,” she adds.
It will likely be weeks before they begin to have an idea of actual crop and agricultural impacts. Baker says the most important thing right now is providing basic needs to people in the many devastated areas.
“Please encourage folks to do whatever they can to support recovery in our region – every little bit of support to aid organizations,” she says.
Some recommended ways to help include donating to:
